Jump feed mechanism



May 17, 19320 F TTELL 1,858,403

JUMP FEED MECHANISM Filed July 24, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l 656 5 fiwmz 111mg y 17, 193? F. J. LITTELL 1,858,403

, JUMP FEED MECHANISM Filed July 24, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 17, 1932 V UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FREDERICK J. LITTELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO F. J. LITTELL MACHINE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS JUMP FEED MECHANISM Application filed July 24,

The invention relates to improvements in punch presses and like machinery and has more particular reference to mechanism for feeding material tothe machines.

In presses that operate on strips or sheets of metal the material is fed to the machine by feed rollers that grip the material and positively impart travel to the same, the rollers operating intermittently, causing feeding definite degree of rotation in timed relation tothe working stroke of the press. Ordinarily the feed rollers have a to feed a definite length of stock to the press.

The present invention is primarily concerned with that type of press operating to punch a series of equally spaced openings in a length of stock, the openings beginning a certain distance from each end. To locate the openings or slits the desired distance from that end inserted into the machine it is only necessary to position the end against a properly located stop, and as the rollers are in termittently operated, feeding of the stock takes place to space the punched openings. In order that the stock may have an opening at a a certain distance from the other end the present invention provides for an increased feed which at definite working strokes of the press operates in addition to the usual feed to cause the stock to be ejected from the press. The additional or jump feed is timed to eject the stock after it has been punched several inches from the. end.

An object of the invention is to provide mechanism which will operate at predetermined working strokes of the press to cause an increase in the rotation imparted to the feeding rollers to cause an increased feed.

Another object is to provide mechanism of the character described that will be simple in construction, efficient and positive in op eration, and which will fulfill all the requirements of service and manufacture.

With these and various other objects in view, the invention may consist of certain novel features of construction and operation as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the specification, drawings and claims appended hereto.

In the drawings which illustrate an em- 1931. Serial No. 552,863.

bodiment'of the device and wherein like reference characters are used to designate like parts Figure 1 is a side elevational View of a press showing the same equipped with the present invention; and

Figure 2 is a front View in Figure 1.

The punch press with which the invention is associated consists of supporting standards 10 and 12 mounting the usual reciprocating plunger and bed, not shown, the plunger be ing operated by the transverse shaft 13 journaled in the standards and driven by any suitable belt from the Wheel 14. The shaft is continuously rotated to plunger, and to rotate the feed rollers to cause normal feeding the shaft has mounted thereon the hub 15 to which is secured the face plate 16. The plate has an elongated slot therein for receiving a stud 17 firmly secured in adjusted position and having mounted thereon a bearing 18, to which is secured a rack bar 20.

The feeding rollers are supported on members 21 and 22 secured to the respective standards 10 and 12 and include lower rollers 23 (Figure 1) stationarily mounted for rotation in bearings 24 by means of the shaft 25 having a bevel gear 26 secured to one end and a spur gear 27 at the other end. An upper roller 28 is so mounted for rotation in the bearings 24 that movement vertically is possible to lift the roller off of engagement with the lower roller 23. Shaft 29 journals the upper roller and has secured thereto a spur gear 30 meshing with pinion 27 to drive the same. The shaft 29 is resiliently urged into engagement with the lower roller by any suitable means and is lifted so as to allow free movement of the stock during a punching operation bymeans to be now described.

Mounted on the drive shaft 13 is a gear wheel 31 and cams 32 and 33. A lever 34 pivotally secured at- 35 has a roller 36 engaging the cam 32 to actuate a link 37secured thereto and in turn pivotally secured to a bell crank 38. A rod 40 secured to the lever 34 receives a coil spring 41 to resiliently maintain the roller 36 in contact with the of the press shown reciprocate the cam 32. Bell crank 38 is secured to a rotatable shaft 39 which at its other end has secured an arm 42, the crank and arm each being operatively connected to members 43 mountedfor vertical movement in slides 44 and extending to the upper shafts 29 on which are the upper rollers 28. As the cusp of cam 32 engages the roller 36 the lever 34 is rocked to retract link 37 and in turn rock bell crank 38 and arm 42. This actuates the members 43 lowering them and thus lifting the upper rollers 28. This actuation takes place for each stroke of the press to enable the pilots of the punch to properly locate the stock. Between the punching operations the rollers are rotated to cause feeding of the stock and during these periods the upper rollers are lowered to firmly grip the stock.

The roller drive shaft 45 is suitably mounted on the members 21 and 22 for rotation and has mounted thereon bevel gears 46 for engaging with the gears 26 on the lower shafts 25. Rotation of shaft 45 thus rotates the rollers 23 to feed the stock as described. Rack bar 20 extends to and beyond the drive shaft 45 and meshes with pinion 47 mounted thereon. An overrunning clutch 48 of usual construction is associated with the pinion and imparts rotation of the pinion in one direction only to the drive shaft 45. The rack 20 reciprocates, due to rotation of the main shaft 13 and this reciprocating movement is thus converted into rotary movement to cause the stock held between the rollers 23 and 28 to be fed the required distance. The feeding is accomplished in advance of-each punching operation and is of uniform magnitude.

The present invention provides for a jump feed after the normal feed has taken place some fourteen or sixteen times as the case may be, and for this an additional rack bar has operative connection with the roller drive shaft.

The rack bar 50 is suitably secured to the counter-shaft 51 by means of a face plate 52 mounted thereon and slotted for adjustably positioning the stud 53 carrying the bearing 54. Bearing 54 is in turn secured to the rack bar 50 to cause the same to reciprocate as the shaft rotates. Gear 55 has meshing engagement with gear 31 and so the counter-shaft is driven from the main drive 13 when the shaft and gear are operatively connected by a pin clutch to be described. Normally the gear 55 rotates freely on shaft 51 and is connected only when a jump feed is desired.

As shown in Figure 1 cam 33 has roller 56 mounted on the pivoted plate 57 in engagement therewith. The plate and roller are resiliently urged so as to maintain contact between the cam and roller by a rod 58 secured to the plate and receiving the coil spring 59. The plate has also secured thereto a link 60 having securement at its other end to a rotatable plate 61. The plate is supported by and rotates on stud 62 on which is loosely mounted the ratchet wheel 63. The plate 61 carries a pawl 64 engaging the ratchet wheel, which is held in rotated position by a spring pressed lug 65, the lug preventing rotation of the wheel in a clockwise direction. As the plate is oscillated in one direction by cam 33, pawl 64 will engage a tooth of ratchet 63 to rotate the wheel. Lug 65 holds the wheel from return rotation and on movement of the plate again in the same direction the ratchet will advance another notch.

Arm 66 pivoted at 67 has roller 68 engaging a flat nosed cam 70 rigidly carried on the ratchet 63. The arm is rocked as the cam 70 is rotated by rotation of ratchet wheel 63 to in turn actuate the link 71 connecting the arm with a clutch member 72. The member normally retains the pin 73 out of its operative position in which position the gear 55 rotates loosely on shaft 51. However, as theclutch member is withdrawn by actuation of arm 66 against tension of spring 74 the pin is freed and functions to operatively connect the gear and the shafts so that the latter is rotated, being driven from shaft 13. The clutch member 72 and pin 73 are of such construction that one revolution of the shaft 51 and face plate 52 is possible since the member is-withdrawn and held in that position only momentarilyand is therefore released in time to withdraw the pin as it completes one revolution.

This rotation of the shaft 51 reciprocates the rack bar 50 which is in meshing engagement with a pinion 7 6 on the roller drive shaft 45. As this pinion is of a smaller diamet'er the drive shaft will have an increased rotation to cause a feed of greater magnitude than that produced by the reciprocation of bar 20. It will be'understood that pinion 76 is also associated with an overrunning clutch 77 so that rotation in one direction only is imparted to the drive shaft. Also during a jump feed both rack bars operate but the bar 50 produces additional rotation of the drive shaft since it meshes with a pinion of smaller diameter.

It will be clear from the foregoing that by the cusp on cam 33 the plate 57 will be rocked to rock the plate 61 The construction of the ratchet wheel and pawl functions to cause rotation of the wheel on rocking of the plate 61. Every rotation of the cam 70 will actuate the arm 66 to withdraw the clutch and rotate the shaft 51. This causes a jump feed as described so that such increased feed occurs every fifteenth or sixteenth occurrence of the usual feed.

It is to be understood that I do'not wish to be limited to the exact embodiment of the device shown, which is merely by way of illustration and not limitation, as various and other forms of the device will of course be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. In a press of the character described, in combination with feeding rollers, an actuating shaft operatively connected to said rollers, a main drive shaft for the press, a reciprocating rod actuated thereby, said rod having connection to the actuating shaft for rotating the rollers, and other means including an auxiliary shaft and a reciprocating rod operated therefrom, said rod having connection to the drive shaft for increasing the rotation of the rollers at intervals.

2. In a device of the character described, in combination a main shaft, feeding rollers intermittently rotated from said main shaft, an auxiliary shaft for imparting rotation to the rollers of greater magnitude, and means for rotating said shaft at intervals including a clutch for operatively connecting the auxiliary shaft with the main shaft.

3. In a device of the character described, in combination a main shaft, feeding rollers intermittently rotated from said main shaft, an auxiliary shaft for rotating the rollers, means for rotating said shaft including a meshing gear wheel on said main and auxiliary shafts, and a clutch for operatively connecting the gear wheel and the auxiliary shaft.

4. In a device of the character described, in combination a main shaft, a reciprocating rod actuated thereby, an auxiliary shaft, a second reciprocating rod actuated thereby, feeding rollers, a shaft for driving said rollers, a large and small pinion mounted on the drive shaft, said pinions meshing with the rods respectively, said first mentioned reciprocating rod rotating said rollers intermittently and of certain magnitude, and said second reciprocating rod rotating said rollers intermittently and of a greater magnitude.

5. In a device of the character described, in combination a main shaft, a reciprocating rod actuated thereby, an auxiliary shaft, a second reciprocating rod actuated thereby, feeding rollers, a shaft for driving said rollers, a large and small pinion mounted on the drive shaft, said pinions meshing with the rods respectively, said auxiliary shaft being intermittently rotated from the main shaft, a standard clutch for initiating the rotation of said auxiliary shaft, and a ratchet wheel rotated from the main shaft and operating to actuate the clutch once during a revolution.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 13th day of July, 1931.

FREDERICK J. LITTELL. 

